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GIFT  OF 


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PUBLIC    SERVICES 


OF 


JACOB  DOLSON  COX 

Governor  of  Ohio  and  Secretary  of  the  Interior 


BY 

JAMES    REES    EWING 


A  DISSERTATION 

SUBMITTED  TO  THE  BOARD  OF  UNIVERSITY  STUDIES  OF 

THE  JOHNS  HOPKINS  UNIVERSITY  IN  CONFORMITY 

WITH  THE  REQUIREMENTS  FOR  THE  DEGREE 

OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY, 

FEBRUARY,  [899 


WASHINGTON 

THE   NEALE   PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

431    ELEVENTH   STREET 

MCMII 


PUBLIC    SERVICES 


OF 


JACOB  DOLSON  COX 

Governor  of  Ohio  and  Secretary  of  the  Interior 


BY 

JAMES    REES    EWING 


A  DISSERTATION 

SUBMITTED  TO  THE  BOARD  OF  UNIVERSITY  STUDIES  OF 

THE  JOHNS  HOPKINS  UNIVERSITY  IN  CONFORMITY 

WITH  THE  REQUIREMENTS  FOR  THE  DEGREE 

OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY, 

FEBRUARY,  [899 


' 


or  THE 

UNIVERSITY 


WASHINGTON 

THE  NEALE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

431    ELEVENTH  STREET 

MCMII 


PREFACE. 

These  pages  form  a  portion  of  a  monograph  which  attempts  to 
point  out  the  extent  and  value  of  the  life  services  of  Jacob  Dolson 
Cox.  His  official  life  is  here  separated  from  a  biographical  essay 
which  devotes  attention  for  the  most  part  to  the  military  career  of 
that  distinguished  citizen.  The  writer  wishes  to  express  his  thanks 
to  friends  who  have  kindly  assisted  him,  and  especially  to  Professor 
P.  V.  N.  Myers,  of  the  University  of  Cincinnati,  save  for  whom 
this  sketch  would  never  have  appeared. 

Denison  University  Library, 
Granville,  Ohio,  October  I,  1898. 


CONTENTS. 


Introduction 


Cox  in  the  State  Senate. 

His  Election  and  Associates  in  the  Senate  ;  Field  of  Senate's 
Activity;  His  Attitude  Towards  the  Problems  of  the  Time  ; 
His  Share  in  Legislation  ;    Military  Preparations 9 

Cox  Governor  of  Ohio. 

His  Election  ;  Oberlin  Committee  ;  His  Inaugural  Address  ; 
Intervenes  Between  President  Johnson  and  Congress  ;  Pre- 
sides at  the  Pittsburg  National  Convention  in  1866  ;  His 
Recommendations  to  the  General  Assembly  of  Ohio  Acted 
Upon    By  Affirmative   Legislation 14 

Cox  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

His  Acceptance  of  a  Cabinet  Portfolio  ;  San  Domingo 
Annexation  Scheme  ;  His  Policy  Towards  the  Indians  ;  His 
Views  on  Civil-Service  Reform  ;  His  Letter  to  Justice  D.  C. 
Humphreys  ;  His  Recommendations  Acted  Upon  By  Affirm- 
ative Legislation  in  Congress  ;    His  Resignation 19 

Cox  in  Congress. 

His  Election  ;  His  Proposed  Amendment  of  the  Resumption 
Act  ;  His  Votes  on  the  Bland  Bill  and  His  Views  on 
Bi-metallism 26 

Conclusion 28 

Bibliography 30 

Vita 31 


INTRODUCTION. 

JACOB  DOLSON  COX  was  born  October  27,  1828,  in  Montreal, 
Canada.  On  his  mother's  side  he  is  descended  from  Elder 
William  Brewster,  of  the  Mayflower,  the  Allyns  of  New  London 
and  Groton,  Connecticut,  and  the  Kenyons,  of  Connecticut.  On 
his  father's  side  the  Coxes  were  of  the  family  of  Koch  from  Han- 
over, Germany,  of  whom  one  Michael  Cox  (Koch)  immigrated 
in  1702,  settling  in  New  York  City  in  1705,  soon  after  the  conquest 
of  the  province  of  New  York  from  the  Dutch.  Jacob  Dolson  Cox, 
St.,  received  his  name  Dolson  from  his  mother,  Mary  Dolson,  of  a 
family  of  Dutch  settlers  of  Duchess  County,  New  York. 

Jacob  D.  Cox,  Sr.,  became  known  as  an  important  man  in  tim- 
ber-farming by  building  a  ship-house  at  Savannah,  Georgia,  for 
the  navy  yard  of  the  United  States.  He  was  thereupon  employed 
to  go  to  Montreal,  to  frame  the  timber  roofing  of  the  Church  of 
Notre  Dame,  which  was  for  a  long  time  the  largest  building  of  its 
kind  on  the  American  continent.  His  work  also  extended  to  the 
general  superintendence  of  the  construction  of  the  building;  there- 
fore, he  took  his  family  there  temporarily,  and  Jacob  D.  Cox,  Jr., 
was  born  on  foreign  soil  while  his  father  was  thus  employed. 

The  childhood  and  youth  of  Cox  were  spent  in  New  York  City. 
He  received  the  usual  education  in  private  schools  of  that  time. 
In  1842,  not  expecting  to  be  able  to  take  a  college  education,  in  con- 
sequence of  his  father's  business  reverses  resulting  from  the 
financial  crisis  of  1837  and  1838,  he  entered,  as  a  law  clerk,  the 
office  of  Harrison  and  Ogden,  equity  lawyers  of  New  York  City. 
Mr.  Harrison  was  comptroller  of  Trinity  Church  corporation,  and 
chiefly  occupied  with  the  affairs  of  that  corporation.  Gouverneur 
Morris  Ogden  was  a  son  of  David  B.  Ogden,  one  of  the  most 
eminent  jurists  of  New  York  City. 

The  law  of  New  York  then  required,  for  admission  to  the  bar, 
seven  years'  clerkship  in  a  lawyer's  office  for  everyone  who  had  not 
a  college  education,  and  young  Cox  entered  with  that  in  view. 
Beginning  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  he  would  have  been  admitted 


8  Public  Services  of  Jacob  Dolson  Cox 

to  the  bar  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  but  after  two  years'  clerkship 
he  began  to  form  plans  to  get  a  college  education ;  and,  with  a  view 
to  this,  changed  his  employment  to  the  office  of  a  broker  and 
banker  on  Wall  street,  Anthony  Lake,  as  that  work  gave  short 
hours  and  left  leisure  for  private  study. 

He  obtained  assistance  from  a  friend  who  was  a  student  in  the 
Union  Theological  Seminary  in  New  York  City,  who  gave  him 
lessons  in  the  elements  of  Greek  and  Latin.  He  had  already 
pushed  his  mathematical  studies  far  enough  to  enter  college  in 
those  days.  Two  years  more  were  spent  in  this  way.  His  father's 
family  had  by  this  time  moved  to  Staten  Island;  and  he  went  to 
business  daily,  back  and  forth,  from  Tompkinsville  on  the  Nar- 
rows' side. 

In  July,  1846,  he  determined  to  go  to  Oberlin,  Ohio,  having 
become  interested  in  the  college  there  through  the  Rev.  Charles 
G.  Finney,  the  distinguished  revivalist,  who  was  then  professor  of 
theology  and  afterwards  president  of  the  college.  He  entered  the 
preparatory  department,  in  which  he  spent  one  year,  and  was 
graduated  from  the  college  in  1851,  with  the  degree  of  A.B.  He 
then  removed  to  Warren,  Ohio,  where  for  two  years  he  was  super- 
intendent of  the  schools  of  Warren  and  principal  of  the  High 
School.  Meanwhile,  he  was  reviewing  his  law  reading,  and  in 
1853  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  His  first  law  partner  was  M.  D. 
Leggett,  later  Commissioner  of  Patents,  and  during  the  war  Major- 
General  of  Volunteers.  On  Leggett's  leaving  Warren,  Cox  became 
the  partner  of  John  Hutchins,  who  succeeded  Joshua  R.  Giddings 
as  member  of  Congress. 

Mr.  Cox's  political  affiliations  were  with  the  Anti-slavery  Whigs, 
and  he  voted  for  General  Scott  for  President  in  1852.  He  was 
active  in  the  negotiations  which  led  to  the  fusion  of  the  Whigs 
and  Free  Soilers,  and  in  1855  was  a  delegate  to  the  convention  at 
Columbus  which  organized  the  Republican  party  in  Ohio. 


Public  Services  of  Jacob  Dolson  Cox 


COX  IN  THE  STATE   SENATE. 

In  1859  Mr-  Cox  was  elected  State  Senator  in  the  district  com- 
prising Trumbull  and  Mahoning  counties,  although  he  had  not 
been  a  candidate  for  nomination,  and  knew  nothing  of  it  until 
the  nomination  was  made.  Upon  taking  his  place  in  the  Senate, 
he  formed  an  early  friendship  with  Salmon  P.  Chase,  then  Gover- 
nor and  United  States  Senator-elect,  and  with  William  Dennison, 
Governor-elect.  He  had  already  made  the  acquaintance  of  James 
A.  Garfield,  the  head  of  the  Disciples'  College  at  Hiram,  who, 
with  Professor  James  Monroe,  of  Oberlin,  was  elected  to  the  State 
Senate  at  the  same  time.  In  the  Senate  chamber  the  seats  of  these 
three  men  were  together,  and  they  were  known  as  the  "  trio  "  of 
Western  Reserve  Republicans.  Cox  and  Garfield  lodged  together 
at  the  house  of  W.  T.  Bascom,  who  was  editor  of  the  Ohio  State 
Journal. 

It  was  during  this  term  in  the  Senate  that  John  Sherman1  was 
first  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate,  although  in  the  elec- 
tion itself,  Cox,  Garfield  and  Christopher  P.  Wolcott,  Attorney- 
General,  were  managers  for  Governor  Dennison,  who  was  also  a 
candidate,  and  at  one  time  seemed  likely  to  be  elected.  Other 
significant  matters  also  came  forward,  and  it  is  needless  to  say  that 
the  period  was  heavy  with  problems  which  were  perplexing  the 
American  people.  The  tone  and  temper  of  the  Ohio  Legislature  for 
the  term  ending  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  were  thoroughly 
tested  by  the  variety  and  importance  of  the  subjects  brought  before 
it.  Slavery,  woman's  rights,  and  temperance  were  the  three  great 
problems  of  the  time  pressing  for  solution. 

Slavery  agitated  the  governments  of  state  and  nation  at  the  same 
time.  Senator  Crittenden's  Compromise  Proposals  in  Congress 
were  discussed  in  the  General  Assembly  of  Ohio,  but  no  motion 
was  carried  to  agree  to  them.2  A  resolution  was  passed  to  send 
five  commissioners  to  the  Peace  Conference  out   of  a   "  sincere 


Senate  Journal,  1861,  p.  198. 
2House  Journal,  1861,  p.  77. 


io  Public  Services  of  Jacob  Dolson  Cox 

desire  to  have  all  differences  harmoniously  adjusted,''  with  the 
explicit  understanding,  however,  that  Ohio  was  not  prepared  to 
accept  the  proposition  of  Virginia.1 

A  resolution  was  passed  urging  that  application  be  made  to 
Congress  to  call  a  convention,  to  amend  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,2  and  later  the  General  Assembly  ratified  the  pro- 
posed Douglas  Amendment  to  the  Constitution.3 

Massachusetts  and  other  Northern  States  passed  personal-liberty 
Acts,  which  were  in  the  nature  of  retaliation  for  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Law  of  1850.4  Ohio  did  not  pass  such  an  Act,  although  petitions 
were  presented  in  the  General  Assembly  for  that  purpose.5  Cox's 
attitude  may  be  seen  in  the  fact  that  he  presented  one  of  these 
petitions  himself.  There  was  debate  over  a  proposal  to  register 
the  colored  population  of  the  State  to  forbid  any  colored  person, 
under  a  penalty,  to  enter  the  State  with  a  determination  to  remain 
permanently.  A  law  to  punish  child-stealing6  was  passed  in  the 
interest  of  the  colored  race.  A  fortnight  before  the  enactment 
one  thousand  dollars  had  been  appropriated  by  the  State  to  termi- 
nate the  litigation,  in  Wayne  county,  Virginia,  concerning  four 
colored  children  out  of  eight  of  the  Peyton  Polly  family,  who  had 
been  seized  in  Lawrence  county,  Ohio,  where  they  had  been  living 
in  freedom,  with  a  view  to  reducing  them  to  slavery.7  On  the 
other  hand,  a  statute  was  enacted  to  prevent  the  amalgamation  of 
the  white  and  colored  races.8 

Slavery  and  woman's  rights  were  connected  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  American  women  at  this  time,  for  they  felt  that  their  cause 
was  in  a  certain  way  allied  to  that  of  the  negro  in  the  struggle  for 
emancipation.  In  Ohio  the  subject  was  alive  with  interest.  Ladies 
frequented  the  galleries  of  the  legislative  chambers  in  1861,  when 
woman's  rights  were  under  discussion ;  and  some  substantial  ad- 
vances were  made,  for  a  law  was  passed  conferring  upon  married 


xLaws  of  Ohio,  1861,  p.  177. 

2Laws  of  Ohio,  1861,  p.  181. 

3Laws  of  Ohio,  1861,    p.  190. 

4Johnston's  American  Politics,  p.  154  (Edition  of  1 

5Senate  Journal,  i860,  p.  105. 

6Laws  of  Ohio,  i860,  p.    85. 

7Laws  of  Ohio,  i860,  p.  149. 

8Laws  of  Ohio,  1861,  p.  6. 


Public  Services  of  Jacob  Dolson  Cox  n 

women  enlarged  legal  rights,  in  relation  to  real  and  personal  prop- 
erty.1   To  this  end  Senator  Cox  had  presented  a  petition. 

As  became  a  descendant  of  Puritan  ancestors  of  New  England, 
educated  in  the  Western  Reserve  District  in  Ohio,  Cox  was  dis- 
posed, in  the  discussions  which  preceded  a  legislative  enactment, 
to  exercise  firm  common  sense,  and  to  observe  a  cautious,  con- 
servative policy  in  the  heated  times  just  before  the  outbreak  of 
civil  hostilities.  His  personal  attitude  towards  the  great  moral 
problems,  when  they  were  precipitated  out  of  the  air  into  definite 
statements  in  bills  and  resolutions,  is  seen  in  the  votes  which  he  cast. 

In  respect  to  the  resolution  to  send  commissioners  to  Wash- 
ington, to  meet  in  the  conference  headed  by  Virginia,  he  offered  a 
substitute,  saying  that  it  was  the  part  of  Congress  to  inaugurate 
the  movement,  "  while  we  cordially  reciprocate  every  desire  on  the 
part  of  Virginia  to  cure  the  present  troubles."2  On  the  resolution, 
as  finally  amended,  he  cast  one  of  three  dissenting  votes.  While 
he  voted  affirmatively  on  the  bill  to  request  Congress  to  call  a 
convention3  to  amend  the  Constitution,  he  afterward  cast  one  of 
eight  dissenting  votes  against  ratifying4  the  Douglas  Amendment. 

On  the  bill5  conferring  woman's  rights,  Senator  Cox  cast  an 
affirmative  vote.  He  committed  himself  to  a  safe  position  by 
declaring  that,  while  granting  to  woman  the  legal  rights  sought 
for,  the  simple  and  obvious  truth  of  the  indissoluble  unity  in  the 
marriage  relation  would  guard  against  possible  unwise  legislation.6 
Senator  Cox's  share,  in  the  legislative  results  of  his  term,  was  not 
inconsiderable.  Four  important  bills7  which  he  introduced  were 
enacted  laws  during  his  term  of  service. 

The  agitation  of  secession  led  to  attempts  to  form  a  better  organ- 
ization of  the  militia  in  Ohio,  and  for  that  purpose  Senator  Cox 
was  appointed  a  brigadier-general  by  the  Governor.     The  move- 


*Laws  of  Ohio,  1861,  pp.  54-55.  On  February  21,  1861,  Senator  Cox 
had  presented  a  petition  for  a  law  conferring  legal  rights  upon  married 
women  in  relation  to  property. 

2Senate  Journal,  1861,  p.  58. 

3Senate  Journal,  1861,  p.  177. 

'Senate  Journal,  1861,  p.  289. 

5Senate  Journal,  1861,  p.  202. 

6Ohio  State  Journal,  March  20,  1861. 

7Note  at  the  end  of  the  chapter. 


12  Public  Services  of  Jacob  Dolson  Cox 

ment,  however,  amounted  to  nothing  more  than  a  nominal  enrol- 
ment, by  towns  and  counties,  of  persons  liable  to  military  duty,  so 
that  Cox  never  appeared  in  uniform  until  the  war  began.  He, 
however,  devoted  a  considerable  part  of  his  leisure  time  during 
the  two  years  of  his  term  to  the  study  of  tactics  and  military 
history,  with  a  half-consciousness  that  this  knowledge  would  be 
needed.  Having  made  arrangements  in  the  last  part  of  April, 
1861,  to  return  to  the  Senate  at  the  proper  time  to  cast  his  vote,  he 
began  under  the  instruction  of  Governor  Dennison  to  put  the  State 
on  a  military  footing.1 

Note. — The  second  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  for  the  term,  held 
on  until  nearly  the  middle  of  May,  1861,  and  it  will  be  observed  that  Mr. 
Cox,  while  making  the  military  preparations  described  below,  was  still  a 
Senator.  »  . 

About  that  time,  Captain  George  B.  McClellan,  at  the  invitation 
of  Governor  Dennison,  came  to  Columbus  for  consultation.  Sen- 
ator Cox  escorted  him  from  the  depot  to  the  State  House,  and 
was  present  when  the  two  men  met.  The  Governor  offered  to 
McClellan  the  command,  to  place  Ohio  on  a  military  footing  for 
the  war,  and  he  accepted  it.  The  following  day  Senator  Cox 
accompanied  McClellan  to  the  State  Arsenal,  which  they  found 
almost  empty  of  the  materials  of  war.  On  their  return  to  the  State 
House,  a  room  was  given  them  and  they  went  to  work. 

On  April  29  Senator  Cox  was  ordered,  by  McClellan,  to  proceed 
to  Camp  Dennison,  near  Cincinnati,  where  a  site  had  been  selected 
for  a  camp  of  instruction.  He  took  with  him  one  full  regiment 
and  half  of  another.  Captain  Rosecrans  came  from  Cincinnati  as 
an  engineer,  and  duly  completed  arrangements  to  accommodate  ten 
regiments. 

The  Brigadier-Generals,  besides2  Cox,  were  J.  H.  Bates  and 
Newton  Sleich,  and  General  Bates,  who  was  the  senior  in  rank, 
took  command  in  McClellan's  absence.     McClellan  had  intended 


1  Under  the  then  existing  law  of  the  United  States,  the  officering  of  all 
the  troops  of  the  first  call  was  done  by  the  Governors  of  States.  Congress 
soon  passed  a  new  law,  authorizing  Unted  States  Volunteers  for  three 
years,  and  under  it  J.  D.  Cox  was  commissioned  Brigadier-General  of  the 
United  States  Volunteers,  to  rank  from  May  17.  His  commission  in  the 
Ohio  troops  called  into  the  national  service  dated  April  23,  1861.  See 
J.  D.  Cox,  in  Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War,  Vol.  I,  p.  89. 

2King's  History  of  Ohio,  p.  370. 


Public  Services  of  Jacob  Dolson  Cox  13 

that  the  brigades  in  Camp  Dennison  should  be  permanent.  How- 
ever, Cox  was  the  only  one  of  the  Brigadier-Generals  who  remained 
in  the  service  after  the  ninety  days'  enlistment  had  expired,  and 
he  entered  the  service  in  command  of  regiments  of  which  only  one 
had  been  in  his  brigade  in  camp. 


Note. — On  January  21,  i860,  Senator  Cox  introduced  a  bill 
regulating  the  responsibility  of  inn-keepers.1  This  is  the  well- 
known  statute,  now  found  all  over  the  Union,  which  provides  that 
an  inn-keeper,  who  is  furnished  with  an  iron  safe  in  his  inn,  shall 
not  be  compelled  to  compensate  a  guest  for  the  loss  of  any  articles, 
such  as  money,  jewelry,  et  cetera,  unless  he  had  refused  or  neglected 
to  deposit  in  his  safe  articles  which  a  guest  may  have  offered  to 
him  for  safe-keeping. 

On  February  15,  i860,  he  introduced  a  bill  relating  to  the  action 
of  a  jury,  in  a  case  in  which  goods  levied  on  are  claimed  by  a  third 
person,  and  on  March  12  it  became  a  law.2 

It  was  enacted  that  if  the  jury  found  the  property  in  contro- 
versy rightfully  belonging  to  the  claimant,  the  justice  should  order 
a  judgment  that  the  claimant  might  recover  both  the  costs  and  the 
property  itself.  If,  however,  the  jury  found  that  the  right  to  the 
property  was  not  in  the  claimant,  the  justice  was  to  issue  an  order 
that  the  party  in  the  execution  might  recover  the  costs  against  the 
claimant. 


*Laws  of  Ohio,  i860,  p.  15. 
2Laws  of  Ohio,  i860,  p.  31. 


14  Public  Services  of  Jacob  Dolson  Cox 


COX  GOVERNOR  OF  OHIO. 

The  limitations  of  this  paper  do  not  permit  an  account  of  the 
distinguished  services  of  General  Cox  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion. 
This  experience  must,  however,  be  taken  into  consideration  for 
its  effect  upon  his  subsequent  career.  His  marked  executive  ability 
brought  him  the  approbation  of  military  men,  and  he  returned  to 
civil  life  with  the  plaudits  of  his  fellow-citizens.  Having  been 
already  in  public  service,  his  experience  was  almost  immediately 
placed  in  requisition. 

The  Republican  State  Convention  of  Ohio  met1  at  Columbus 
on  June  21,  1865,  to  place  in  nomination  candidates  for  State 
offices.  General  Cox,  having  served  with  distinction  through  the 
whole  period  of  the  Civil  War,  was  well  known  and  popular  in  the 
State.  His  name,  when  presented  before  the  convention,  was 
received  with  enthusiasm,  and  his  nomination  for  Governor  was 
made  by  acclamation.2  He  was  duly  elected,  in  October,3  but  in  the 
summer,4  while  he  was  still  a  candidate,  two  gentlemen  of  Oberlin, 
Ohio,  signing  themselves  the  Oberlin  Committee,5  addressed  to  him 
a  letter  of  inquiry.  He  was  asked  if  he  was  in  favor  of  conferring 
the  elective  franchise  upon  the  colored  people.  General  Cox  had 
not  attempted  to  conceal  his  views  on  the  subject,  yet  the  surprise 
with  which  unconfirmed  rumors  had  been  received  in  his  early 
home  provoked  the  inquiry.  He  answered  immediately6  with  a 
carefully  prepared  solution  of  the  problem.  He  advocated  a  peace- 
able separation,  of  the  white  and  black  elements  of  the  population, 
the  black  race  being  assigned  to  a  definite  area  of  the  American 
soil.    From  such  a  solution  he  looked  for  a  three-fold  consequence: 


1  Joseph  P.  Smith's  History  of  the  Republican  Party  in  Ohio,  Vol.  I, 
p.  202. 

2 Joseph  P.  Smith's  History  of  the  Republican  Party  in  Ohio,  Vol.  I, 
p.  205. 

3Octobcr  ro. 

4July  24 

5Ohio  State  Journal,  July  26,  1865. 

6Ohio  State  Journal,  July  26,  1865. 


Public  Services  of  Jacob  Dolson  Cox  15 

The  black  man  would  be  invested  with  all  political  rights;  the 
representation  of  the  Southern  whites  would  be  reduced  to  their 
own  numbers;  and  the  common  interest  and  identity  would  be 
secured  by  the  permanent  peace  of  the  Government.  He  did  not 
subsequently  change  these  views  on  negro  suffrage,  which  were 
commented  on  by  the  press  throughout  the  State  and  had  a  bearing 
on  his  relations  to  the  Republican  party,  but  when  the  amendment 
to  the  Constitution  conferring  the  elective  franchise  on  the  freed- 
man  had  passed1  he  then  advocated,  in  the  campaign  of  1867, 
amending  the  Ohio  Constitution,  so  as  to  accord  with  the  National, 
on  the  ground  that  since  negro  suffrage  had  been  forced  on  the 
Southern  States,  where  it  was  really  dangerous,  the  people  in  the 
North  were  bound  to  accept  it,  where  it  was  a  matter  of  compara- 
tively small  moment. 

Governor  Cox  was  inducted  into  office  on  January  8,  1866,  and 
in  his  inaugural  address2  he  formulated  maxims  of  government 
in  which  were  expressed  his  views  of  reconstruction.  Conquest 
does  not  rightfully  give  unlimited  sway  over  the  persons  and  the 
property  of  the  conquered.  Military  government  is  despotic,  and 
if  continued  after  the  cessation  of  hostilities  is  opposed  to  republi- 
canism. 

Respecting  the  general  situation  of  President  Johnson's  quarrel 
with  Congress,  it  may  be  remarked  that  Governor  Cox's  friend, 
ex-Governor  Dennison,  had  been  Postmaster-General  in  the  latter 
part  of  Lincoln's  term,  and  held  over  for  some  time  under  Mr. 
Johnson.  Through  information  obtained  from  ex-Governor  Den- 
nison, as  well  as  from  other  sources,  public  and  private,  Governor 
Cox  knew  that  the  so-called  Restoration  Policy  of  Mr.  Johnson  was 
in  all  essential  particulars  that  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  that  Johnson 
was  not  striking  out  in  a  new  course  of  action  of  his  own.  Gov- 
ernor Cox's  predilection  was  toward  Mr.  Lincoln's  plans,  and  he 
did  not  doubt  that  with  his  sagacity  in  carrying  out  such  plans  or 
modifying  them  to  suit  circumstances  he  would  have  been  allowed 
by  Congress  to  carry  out  his  own  plans,  but  Mr.  Johnson  as  a  new 
man  was  more  open  to  the  antagonism  of  such  leaders  as  Thad- 
deus  Stevens,  and  his  combative  manners  made  him  open  to  defeat. 
On  February  26,  1866,  Governor  Cox  was  in  Washington,  and  read 

xJune  13,  1866. 

Executive  Documents  of  Ohio,  part  1,  1865,  pp.  305-312. 


16  Public  Services  of  Jacob  Dolson  Cox 

a  letter1  to  the  Representatives  in  Congress  from  Ohio  which  was 
sent  to  Hon.  George  B.  Wright,  chairman  of  the  Ohio  Republican 
Central  Committee  at  Columbus. 

Cox  also  had  interviews  with  President  Johnson  and  with 
various  leaders  in  Congress,  and  had  striven  to  pave  the  way  for  a 
reconciliation  between  them.  In  the  letter  Governor  Cox  said  that 
President  Johnson  had  tried  to  fall  in  with  the  plan  which  Lincoln 
would  have  adopted.  He  desired  the  earliest  possible  restoration  of 
peace  on  the  basis  of  loyalty.  Governor  Cox's  acquaintance  with 
President  Johnson  led  him  to  think  well  of  his  general  honesty 
and  patriotism,  and  he  tried  to  soften  the  antagonism  between  him 
and  the  Congressional  leaders.  On  the  other  hand,  when  the 
extreme  views  of  Stevens  and  Sumner  had  been  modified,  a  little 
later,  in  the  Acts  actually  passed  by  Congress,  Governor  Cox  urged 
the  President  to  yield  as  a  measure  of  compromise,  and  not  to 
veto  the  bills.  President  Johnson  had,  however,  become  committed 
to  a  bitter  conflict  and  declined  to  do  so,  and  Governor  Cox  with- 
drew from  further  efforts  to  influence  him. 

The  same  year  was  remarkable  for  the  calling  of  four  national 
conventions.2  The  selection  of  Representatives  and  Senators  in  the 
States  for  Congress  was  the  movement  which  engaged  in  competi- 
tion the  friends  and  opponents  of  the  Administration,  and  the  most 
stirring  interest  in  such  a  political  act  would  naturally  be  found 
in  the  States  themselves,  but  the  excitement  expanded  into  expres- 
sions by  the  nation,  as  well.  One  of  the  national  conventions  was 
held  at  Pittsburg,  and  the  delegates3  were  soldiers  and  sailors. 
Governor  Cox4  was  unanimously  chosen  permanent  chairman  of 
the  convention.  He  had  earlier  in  the  year  withdrawn  from  Presi- 
dent Johnson,  whose  stubbornness  and  pugnacity  threw  him  into 
awkward  and  critical  attitudes,  and  the  clear  depths  of  his  address 
before  the  convention  showed  the  strong  convictions  which 
anchored  him.  He  said  that  it  was  "  unpleasant  to  recognize  the 
truth  that  it  is  in  the  minds  of  some  to  exalt  the  executive  depart- 
ment of  the  Government  into  a  despotic  power,  and  to  abase  the 


^hio  State  Journal,  February  27,  1866. 
2T\venty  Years  in  Congress,  Vol.  11,  pp.  220-230-232. 
3About  25.000  delegates  were  present. 

4  General  John  A.  Logan  had  been  the  first  choice,  but  in  his  absence 
Governor  Cox  was  selected. 


Public  Services  of  Jacob  Dolson  Cox  ly 

representative  portion  of  our  Government  into  the  mere  tools  of 
despotism.  We  know  that  the  will  of  the  people  has  been  expressed 
in  the  character  of  the  existing  Congress.  We  have  expressed  our 
faith  that  the  proposition  which  has  been  made  by  Congress  for  the 
settlement  of  all  difficulties  in  the  country  (14th  amendment)  is 
not  only  a  wise  policy,  but  one  so  magnanimous  that  the  world  stood 
in  wonder  that  a  people  could  in  such  circumstances  be  so  mag- 
nanimous to  those  whom  they  had  conquered." 

In  his  first  annual  message  to  the  General  Assembly  of  Ohio, 
Governor  Cox  made  five  important  recommendations,  which  were 
definitely  and  promptly  responded  to  by  affirmative  legislative 
action.  He  urged  that  the  financial  laws  of  the  State  be  revised1 
to  secure  a  correct  estimate  of  taxable  real  and  personal  property. 
On  March  16,  1867,  a  law  was  passed  empowering  the  Governor 
to  appoint  a  board  of  commissioners  to  revise  all  the  laws  of  the 
State  relating  to  the  assessment  and  taxing  of  property.2  On 
March  30  and  May  8,  laws  were  passed  in  accordance  with  the 
recommendations  of  the  commissioners.3  He  recommended  the 
founding  of  a  reform  school  for  girls.4  On  April  30,  1868,  a  com- 
mittee was  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly,  authorized  to 
examine  sites  for  the  establishment  of  a  reform  school  for  girls,5 
and  in  1869  tne  school  was  founded.6 

He  recommended  the  creation  of  a  State  Board  of  Charities,  to 
act  in  an  advisory  capacity  to  the  Legislature,  and  to  supply 
information  relating  to  the  improvement  of  public  charities.7  On 
April  17,  1867,  a  law  was  passed  authorizing  the  Governor  to 
appoint  a  committee  of  five  persons  constituting  the  State  Board  of 
Charities,  who  should  annually  make  such  suggestions  to  the  Legis- 
lature as  might  be  deemed  wise.8  He  recommended  the  creation 
of  Boards  of  Health  in  cities  and  villages,  whose  duty  it  should  be 
to  enforce  regulations  in  regard  to  cleanliness,  the  sale  of  unwhole- 


^xecutive  Documents,  part  I,  1866,  p.  265. 

'Laws  of  Ohio,  1867,  p.  61. 

3Laws  of  Ohio,  1868,  pp.  38,  166,  171. 

^Executive  Documents,  part  1,  1866,  p.  270. 

5 Laws  of  Ohio,  1868,  p.  298. 

6Senate  Journal,  1869,  pp.  556,  722,  744. 

7Executive  Documents,  part  1,  1866,  p.  270. 

8Laws  of  Ohio,  1867,  p.  257. 


1 8  Public  Services  of  Jacob  Dolson  Cox 

some  food  and  the  care  of  the  sick  and  the  poor.1  On  March  29, 
1867,  a  law  was  passed  that  the  City  Council  of  any  city  shall  have 
power  to  create  a  board  of  health,2  and  later  another  law  was  passed 
that  the  Council  of  any  incorporated  village  could,  according  to 
the  Act  for  Cities,  create  a  board  of  health.3  He  recommended  the 
ratification  of  the  proposed  14th  amendment  to  the  Constitution.4 
On  January  1 1,  1867,  the  General  Assembly  ratified  the  amend- 
ment on  the  part  of  Ohio.5  Governor  Cox  exercised  the  functions 
of  Chief  Executive  of  the  State  of  Ohio  with  credit  to  himself  and 
satisfaction  to  the  people. 

His  views  on  the  solution  of  the  negro  problem6  and  his  vindica- 
tion of  President  Johnson,  in  which  he  strove  to  soften  the  antag- 
onism between  the  President  and  Congress,  placed  him  in  ques- 
tionable favor  with  the  Republican  party  in  the  State.  Although  he 
was  urged  at  last  to  permit  his  name  to  be  presented  to  the  conven- 
tion for  renomination,  he  firmly  declined,  having  several  months 
previously  expressed  a  determination  not  to  be  a  candidate  a  second 
time. 


Executive  Documents,  part  1,  1866,  p.  270. 

2Laws  of  Ohio,  1867,  p.    76. 

3Laws  of  Ohio,  1867,  p.  147. 

4Executive  Documents,  part  1,  1866,  p.  281. 

6Laws  of  Ohio,  1867,  p.  320. 

6Letter  of  Sherman  to  Grant,  North  American  Review,  Vol.  143,  p.  83. 


Public  Services  of  Jacob  Dolson  Cox  19 


COX  SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

While  General  Grant  was  acting  as  Secretary  of  War  ad  interim, 
Mr.  Stanton  having  been  suspended  by  President  Johnson,  a  sug- 
gestion for  his  successor  was  made  by  General  Sherman.  The 
latter  thought  that  the  restoration  of  Mr.  Stanton  would  not  be 
acceptable  to  the  President  and  the  Army,  and  he  believed  that 
Governor  Cox  of  Ohio,  whose  term  would  close  in  a  short  time, 
would  be  confirmed  by  the  Senate  as  General  Grant's  successor. 
He  did  not  know  that  the  position  would  be  acceptable  to  Governor 
Cox,  if  it  were  tendered  to  him.  Senator  Reverdy  Johnson,  with 
whom  he  talked,  joined  with  him  in  approval,  and  the  next  day 
saw  the  President.  Several  Senators  whom  General  Sherman 
addressed  encouraged  him  in  the  idea.  General  Grant  assured 
General  Sherman  that  both  he  and  the  Army  would  agree  to 
Governor  Cox.  When  General  Sherman  obtained  an  interview 
with  the  President,  the  latter  informed  him  in  answer  to  his  inquiry 
that  Senator  Reverdy  Johnson  had  seen  him  in  regard  to  Governor 
Cox,  but  the  President  gave  General  Sherman  no  further  assur- 
ance than  that  he  had  a  good  opinion  of  him.1 

When  General  Grant  become  President  he  was  already  familiar 
with  Mr.  Cox's  ability  and  the  excellent  services  which  he  had 
rendered  during  the  war.  He,  therefore,  tendered  him  the  Secre- 
taryship of  the  Interior,  and  the  position  was  accepted. 

The  annexation  of  San  Domingo  was  the  first  important  aim  of 
President  Grant  in  his  first  Administration.2  To  this  the  Cabinet, 
as  well  as  Congress  was  "  consistently  opposed."  The  discussion 
of  the  subject  at  Cabinet  meetings  had  been  free,  and  the  members 
were  agreed  with  Mr.  Fish,  Secretary  of  State,  that  the  Adminis- 
tration should  adopt  "  a  cordially  friendly  attitude  to  the  actual 
government3  in  San  Domingo,  with  decided  discouragement  to  all 


^orth  American  Review,  Vol.  143,  pp.  83-84. 

"For  the  account  of  the  San  Domingo  affair,  I  have  used  the  article  by 
J.  D.  Cox,  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  August,  1895.  pp.  165-167. 

3Cabral,  at  the  head  of  an  insurrectionary  force  in  the  island,  was  the 
rival  of  Baez,  who  was  the  leader  of  the  established  government. 


20  Public  Services  of  Jacob  Dolson  Cox 

intervention  and  filibustering."  The  asserted  desire  of  the  Navy- 
Department  that  the  United  States  should  have  the  Bay  of  Samana, 
in  the  eastern  part  of  the  island,  as  a  coaling  station,  having  been 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  Cabinet  by  a  casual  observation  of 
the  President,  was  followed  by  Grant's  declaration  that  he  would 
send  Colonel  Babcock1  in  a  confidential  way  to  inspect  the  bay.  It 
was  understood  in  the  Cabinet  that  the  preliminary  investigation 
was  known  only  to  the  intimate  circle  around  the  President,  but 
events  occurred2  before  the  departure  which  proved  that  the  project 
had  acquired  a  degree  of  publicity.  When  Babcock's  return  was 
announced  by  the  press,  Secretary  Cox  repaired  to  the  Department 
of  State.  When  they  were  alone,  Secretary  Fish  turned  to  Cox  and 
said :  "  What  do  you  think !  Babcock  is  back,  and  has  actually 
brought  a  treaty  for  the  cession  of  San  Domingo ;  yet  I  pledge  you 
my  word  he  had  no  more  diplomatic  authority  than  any  other  casual 
visitor  to  the  island."  The  two  Secretaries  agreed  at  the  end  of 
their  discussion  that  the  wisest  policy,  when  the  President  next 
met  the  Cabinet,  was  "  to  insist  upon  burying  the  whole  in  oblivion 
as  a  state  secret."  In  the  meantime,  the  Cabinet  members  had 
expressed  themselves  in  agreement  with  Mr.  Fish's  suggestion.  It 
now  rested  upon  the  Secretary  of  State  to  present  this  item  of  his 
portfolio,  when  called  upon  by  the  President  in  regular  Cabinet 
meeting.  The  President,  "  contrary  to  his  custom,  took  the  initia- 
tive," when  they  next  met.  "  Babcock  has  returned,  as  you  see," 
he  said,  "  and  has  brought  a  treaty  of  annexation.  I  suppose  it  is 
not  formal,  as  he  had  no  diplomatic  powers,  but  we  can  easily  cure 
that.  We  can  send  back  the  treaty,  and  have  Perry,  the  consular 
agent,  sign  it,  and  as  he  is  an  officer  of  the  State  Department,  it 
would  make  it  all  right."  After  a  moment  of  embarrassing  silence, 
Secretary  Cox  said :  "  But,  Mr.  President,  has  it  been  decided, 
then,  that  we  want  to  annex  San  Domingo?"  The  direct  question 
evidently  embarrassed  General  Grant.  He  colored  and  smoked  hard 
at  his  cigar.  He  glanced  at  Mr.  Fish  at  his  right,  but  the  face  of 
the  Secretary  was  impassive,  and  his  eyes  were  fixed  on  the  port- 
folio before  him.    He  turned  to  Mr.  Boutwell  on  his  left,  but  no 


Assistant  Private  Secretary  to  the  President. 

2  Some  merchants  trading  with  the  island  offered  Babcock  free  passage 
on  one  of  their  vessels,  and  it  was  reported  that  a  United  States  Senator 
was  to  accompany  him. 


Public  Services  of  Jacob  Dolson  Cox  21 

response  met  him  there.  As  the  silence  became  painful,  the  Presi- 
dent called  for  another  item  of  business,  and  left  the  question  unan- 
swered. The  subject  was  never  again  brought  up  before  the  assem- 
bled Cabinet. 

Secretary  Cox  was  at  the  head  of  the  Interior  Department,  when 
a  new  era  was  entered,  in  the  policy  of  the  National  Government, 
toward  the  Indians.1  He  saw  the  satisfactory  results  of  President 
Grant's  "  peace  policy,"  and  interpreted  the  definite  movement  as  an 
attempt  to  secure  "  co-operation  between  the  Government  and  the 
active  benevolence  of  the  people  in  the  work  of  civilization."2  The 
policy  of  the  Government  had  for  a  long  time  been  that  Indian 
tribes  in  the  vicinity  of  white  settlers  should  live  upon  definite 
reservations. 

The  conditions  of  travel  were  suddenly  changed  in  1869,  when 
the  Pacific  Railroad  was  completed.  "  Instead  of  a  slowly  advanc- 
ing tide  of  immigration  making  its  gradual  inroads  upon  the  cir- 
cumference of  a  great  interior  wilderness,  the  very  centre  of  the 
desert  had  been  pierced."3  The  white  population  had  been  slowly 
but  surely  inclosing  and  invading  the  Indian  settlements,  and  now, 
when  the  numbers  of  the  white  people  suddenly  increased,  the 
tendency  was  accordingly  aggravated.  A  remedy  appeared  to  lie 
in  a  change  in  the  Indian  territories.  Instead  of  assigning  a  sepa- 
rate reservation  to  each  tribe,  as  the  National  Government  had  been 
accustomed  to  do  "  in  most  instances,"  Secretary  Cox  advocated 
the  aggregation  of  tribes  upon  large  reservations.4  He  also  was  in 
favor  of  allotting  land  in  severalty  when  the  Indians  were  prepared 
for  it.5 

During  this  Administration  the  people  of  the  United  States 
became  aroused  over  the  need  of  removing  the  abuses  of  the  Civil 
Service,  and  Secretary  Cox,  in  his  annual  report  for  1869,  expressed 
a  hope  that  there  would  be  reform  in  the  near  future.  He  advo- 
cated raising  the  standard  of  qualification  for  appointment,  making 
merit  the  ground  of  promotion,  and  securing  permanence  of  tenure 
of  office  to  the  incumbent  who  should  prove  efficient.6    The  useful- 


^he  Indian  Office  was  included  under  the  Interior  Department. 

international  Review,  Vol.  6,  p.  630. 

3Report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  1869,  p.    7. 

4Report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  1869,  p.    8. 

5Report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  1869,  p.    9. 

6Report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  1869,  p.  24. 


22  Public  Services  of  Jacob  Dolson  Cox 

ness  of  an  efficient  clerk  he  regarded  as  increased  by  the  increasing 
duration  of  his  incumbency.  He  later  added  the  conviction  that  the 
standard  of  qualification  would  be  raised  by  admitting  to  the  Civil 
Service  aspirants  by  competitive  examination  open  to  all.1 

The  vast  army  of  officers  of  the  Government  ranking  below  the 
members  of  the  Cabinet,  and  their  functions  being  purely  clerical, 
their  selection  should  be  made  irrespective  of  their  political  affilia- 
tions. He  believed  that  thus  an  advantage  wTould  be  gained  by  the 
growth  in  the  personnel  of  the  National  Government  of  a  feeling 
that  they  were  the  servants  of  the  people.2 

In  August,  1870,  a  formal  notice  was  served  upon  Secretary 
Cox  that  Justice  D.  C.  Humphreys,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
District  of  Columbia,  would  hear  a  motion  for  contempt  of  an 
injunction.  It  was  not  asserted  that  the  motion  could  be  against 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  but  Secretary  Cox  in  his  course  of 
action  assumed  such  to  be  the  fact.  The  stage  of  the  case  hinted  at 
by  the  notice  of  the  Court  grew  out  of  certain  past  events. 

In  1868  William  McGarrahan,3  alleging  himself  to  be  the  pur- 
chaser of  a  claim  of  land  in  California,  filed  a  petition  in  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  District  of  Columbia  for  a  mandamus  com- 
manding the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  to  issue  to  him  a  patent  for 
the  land. 

The  Court  ordered  Secretary  Browning  to  show  why  the  man- 
damus should  not  be  issued;  he  answered  that  the  Court  did  not 
have  jurisdiction  over  the  subject-matter  of  the  case.  However, 
a  mandamus  was  issued  directing  Secretary  Browning  or  his  suc- 
cessor in  office  to  convey  to  McGarrahan  the  land  in  question.  Four 
months  before,  Secretary  Browning  had  been  succeeded  in  office  by 
Mr.  Cox,  and  the  mandamus  was  served  upon  Secretary  Cox.  The 
latter  sued  out  a  writ  of  error  against  McGarrahan  and  removed 
the  case  into  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

The  Court  rendered  the  following  in  its  decision  :  "  A  judgment 
in  mandamus  ordering  the  performance  of  an  official  duty  against 


xNorth  American  Review,  Vol.  112,  p.  98. 
2North  American  Review,  Vol.  112,  pp.  105-106. 

3Wallace's   Reports   of  the   Decisions   of  the   Supreme    Court  of   the 
United  States,  Vol.  9,  p.  298,  et  seq. 


Public  Services  of  Jacob  Dolson  Cox  23 

an  officer  as  if  yet  in  office,  when,  in  fact,  he  had  gone  out  after  the 
service  of  the  writ,  and  before  the  judgment,  is  void;  such  a  judg- 
ment cannot  be  executed  against  his  successor." 

"  A  mandamus  to  compel  either  the  Commissioner  of  the  Gen- 
eral Land  Office  or  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  to  issue  the  patent 
cannot  be  sustained  under  the  statutes  as  now  existing.  The  grant- 
ing of  a  patent  for  lands  in  cases  where  proof,  hearing,  decision 
are  required,  and  where  the  exercise  of  judgment  and  discre- 
tion is  thus  necessary,  is  not  a  matter  wherein  the  action  of  the 
Department  of  the  Interior  is  subject  to  re-examination  by  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  District." 

Secretary  Cox  was  proceeding  with  the  application  of  the  New 
Idria  Mining  Company  for  a  patent  for  land  in  California,  and 
McGarrahan  brought  suit  for  injunction  against  the  company  and 
against  Secretary  Cox  for  contempt  of  injunction.  Secretary  Cox 
addressed  to  Humphreys  a  letter1  asking  if  the  Secretary  were 
trenching  upon  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Court  in  executing  the  trust 
committed  to  him,  or  whether  the  Court  were  not  trenching  upon 
the  Secretary's  jurisdiction,  if  the  injunction  were  intended  to 
obstruct  the  order  of  business  before  him.  Assuming  that  the 
Department  of  the  Interior  had  been  made  a  party  to  the  record, 
and  that  an  injunction  had  been  asked  for,  as  it  had  not,  to  forbid 
their  proceeding  with  application  of  the  New  Idria  Mining  Com- 
pany for  a  patent  for  land,  the  Secretary  further  asked  if  the 
Court  could  have  interfered  by  injunction  to  prevent  him  from 
acting  upon  the  application.  Secretary  Cox  defended  his  own  posi- 
tion successfully  by  presenting  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States  in  the  case  to  which  he  was  himself  a  party 
against  McGarrahan.  He  removed  the  opportunity  of  a  reply  from 
the  opposite  side  by  proving  that  the  duties  involved  were  not 
merely   ministerial,2  but   discretionary,   and   that    there    was    no 


1  Letter  of  Honorable  J.  D.  Cox,  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  to  Honor- 
able D.  C.  Humphreys,  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
District  of  Columbia. 

2  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  The  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  vs.  McGarranan,  decided  that  the  Secretary's  duties  in  McGarra- 
han's  case  were  discretionary. 


24  Public  Services  of  Jacob  Dolson  Cox 

distinction  between  proceeding  for  a  mandamus  and  an  injunc- 
tion.1 

Secretary  Cox  was  almost  the  only  member  of  the  Cabinet  who 
retained  his  position  for  a  longer  duration  than  the  first  year  of 
the  Administration,  and  before  Grant's  first  term  had  half  expired 
every  original  member  of  the  Cabinet,  with  the  exception  of  Bout- 
well,  had  been  succeeded  by  another.  Some  of  the  resignations 
were,  in  fact,  due  to  causes  disconnected  with  the  Administration, 
and  whatever  embarrassment  was  felt  it  was  consistent  with  the 
situation  that  it  should  not  have  been  borne  wholly  by  anyone. 
But  the  resignations  which  occurred  when  the  President  and  his 
advisers  had  for  some  time  been  together  at  the  head  of  the  Govern- 
ment arose  out  of  different  conditions.  The  San  Domingo2  affair 
had  unfortunate  effects  in  the  Cabinet,  and  the  persistent  efforts 
of  Grant  to  bring  his  annexation  scheme  to  a  successful  issue  in  the 
confirmation  of  it  by  the  Senate  illustrate  his  lack  of  fitness  at 
that  time  for  civil  business. 

President  Grant,  in  military  fashion,  conceived  in  his  mind  an 
object  to  be  attained  and  instinctively  regarded  every  officer  of 
the  Government  as  a  subordinate  who  should  acquiesce  in  the  com- 
mands of  a  chief.  Mr.  Fish,  Secretary  of  State,  who  stood  in  cor- 
dial relations  with  Senator  Sumner,  an  ardent  opponent  of  the 
annexation,  found  his  attitude  toward  the  Senator  open  to  the 
false  interpretation  of  duplicity,  and  was  persuaded  only  by  strong 
personal  influences  and  a  sense  of  duty  from  resigning. 

Attorney-General  Hoar  made  a  modest  and  courteous  avowal  of 
his  willingness  to  yield  his  Cabinet  position  to  meet  any  need  of 
President  Grant  for  the  success  of  his  Administration,  and  found 
his  official  connection  with  the  President  curtly  ended  when  the 
latter  resorted  to  a  bargain  with  Southern  Senators  for  their  sup- 
port of  the  annexation  scheme. 

The  quality  which  specially  fitted  Grant  for  a  superior  military 
commander  reacted  with  injurious  effect  when  he  carried  on  the 
affairs  of  the  state.    His  Cabinet  officers  felt  that  they  were  deprived 


1  Announced  in  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
in  Litchfield  vs.  The  Register  and  Receiver  of  the  Land  Office  at  Fort  Dodge. — 
Wallace's  Decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court^of  the  United  States,  Vol.  9, 

PP.  576-577. 

2J.  D.  Cox,  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  August,  1895,  pp.  164-173. 


Public  Services  of  Jacob  Dolson  Cox  25 

of  the  tie  which  bound  them  to  the  President  when  they  could  not 
serve  him  with  a  cordial  and  confidential  interchange  of  opinion. 
Secretary  Cox  could  not  be  reconciled  to  retain  his  portfolio,  and 
resigned  in  November,  1870.1 


Secretary  Cox  made  three  recommendations  which  received  affirma- 
tive legislative  action  in  Congress.  He  recommended  the  creation  of  a 
court  in  Washington,  D.  C,  "  for  the  summary  trial  of  minor  offenses." 
Acting  upon  this  suggestion,  Congress  enacted,  June  17,  1870,  that  there 
should  be  established  in  the  District  of  Columbia  a  court  to  be  called 
The  Police  Court  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  with  jurisdiction  over  mis- 
demeanors. He  recommended,  also,  that  the  penitentiaries  in  the  Terri- 
tories be  put  under  the  charge  of  United  States  Marshals.  Congress 
agreed  to  this  and  to  the  erection  of  a  new  jail  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 
See  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  1869,  p.  24;  1870,  p.  20,  22; 
United  States  Statutes  at  Large,  Vol.  16,  pp.  153-157;  p.  398,  Vol.  17, 
p.  211. 


26  Public  Services  of  Jacob  Dolson  Cox 


COX  IN  CONGRESS. 

Mr.  Cox's  nomination  by  the  Republicans  of  the  Toledo  district 
for  Representative  in  the  Forty-fifth  Congress  was  tendered  to  him 
unexpectedly  on  his  part,  and  he  accepted  the  honor,  which  he  had 
not  sought.  He  was  duly  elected,  and  took  his  place  in  a  Congress 
which  was  distinguished  for  placing  the  country  again  on  a 
bi-metallic  basis,  and  for  witnessing  the  operation  of  the  resumption 
of  specie  payments.  By  this  time  a  reactionary  sentiment  against 
the  Resumption  Act  had  arisen  for  various  reasons,  and  was  having 
its  effect  in  Congress.  On  October  31,  1877,  m  tne  special  session 
a  bill  was  introduced  for  the  repeal  of  the  third  section  of  the 
Resumption  Act.  Among  other  amendments  offered  was  one  by 
Mr.  Cox.1  The  distinctive  features  of  the  original  law  and  of 
Cox's  proposed  amendment  were  that  the  Resumption  Act  required 
for  every  issue  of  national  bank  notes  eighty  per  cent,  of  the  legal 
tender  notes  to  be  retired,  while,  by  Cox's  proposed  amendment, 
legal  tender  notes  were  redeemed,  with  the  regular  increase  of  the 
value  of  the  paper  dollar  one-half  per  cent,  semi-annually,  until  its 
value  was  at  par  with  coin.2  The  legal  tender  notes  in  excess  of 
three  hundred  millions  of  dollars  were  redeemed  by  the  Resumption 
Act,  with  the  contingency  of  re-issue,  while  by  Cox's  proposed 
amendment  they  were  canceled  after  redemption. 

The  Resumption  Act  left  open  the  question  of  the  re-issuing  of 
the  three  hundred  millions  of  dollars  of  notes  after  their  redemption. 
The  proposed  amendment  settled  the  disputed  point  by  keeping  the 
notes  in  circulation.  Mr.  Cox  affirmed  that  his  amendment  would 
avoid  a  forced  contraction  by  gradually  reducing  the  premium  on 
coin,  while  the  holder's  confidence  in  his  currency  would  be  in- 
creased, and  there  would  be  no  temptation  to  hoard  the  legal 
tender  notes. 

Paper  money  enough,  he  believed,  would  be  floated  to  gauge  the 
actual  volume  of  business.3    When  it  was  decided  by  the  passage 


Congressional  Record,  45th  Congress,  1st  Session,  p.  257. 
beginning  at  the  ratio  of  97  to  100  on  January  1st,  1878. 
'Congressional  Record,  45th  Congress,  1st  Session,  pp.  266-269. 


Public  Services  of  Jacob  Dolson  Cox  27 

of  the  Resumption  Act  to  resume  specie  payments,  interest  began 
to  be  aroused  as  to  whether  a  single  or  double  standard  would  be 
issued  to  redeem  the  legal  tender  notes,  and  when  the  Bland  bill 
was  introduced,  Mr.  Cox  voted1  for  it,  as  he  did  also  when  it  was 
returned  to  the  House  with  the  Senate's  amendment.2 

He  had  declared  himself  previously  in  favor  of  bi-metallism ; 
and  his  attitude  did  not  at  any  time  change  except  that,  regarding 
the  question  as  a  purely  practical  one,  he  held  that  whenever  the 
policy  of  the  civilized  world  in  this  respect  should  become  practi- 
cally settled  or  evidently  tending  to  a  practical  settlement,  it  would 
be  right  and  wise  to  acquiesce  in  such  settlement. 


Congressional  Record,  45th  Congress,  1st  Session,  p.  241 
Congressional  Record,  45th  Congress,  1st  Session,  pp.  1284-1285. 


28  Public  Services  of  Jacob  Dolson  Cox 


CONCLUSION. 

In  1873,  when  Mr.  Cox  had  in  full  resumed  legal  practice  in 
Cincinnati,  friends  and  clients  of  his  in  New  York  were  the  owners 
of  a  controlling  interest  in  the  stocks  of  the  Toledo  and  Wabash 
and  Western  Railroad  Company.  The  panic  of  that  year,  which 
began  with  the  failure  of  Jay  Cooke  &  Co.,  involved  these  gentle- 
men, and  when  the  time  for  the  annual  meeting  of  the  company 
came  they  had  been  obliged  to  part  with  portions  of  the  stock 
after  the  closing  of  the  stock-book  prior  to  the  election,  according 
to  law.  They  asked  Mr.  Cox  to  attend  the  annual  meeting  at 
Toledo  and  to  manage  their  interests  there,  in  view  of  an  effort 
which  they  learned  would  be  made  to  prevent  their  voting  upon  the 
stock  as  it  stood  upon  the  transfer  book.  They  anticipated  that 
injunctions  might  be  asked  for  to  interfere  with  the  course  of  the 
meeting.  Mr.  Cox  attended,  therefore,  as  their  counsel,  with  their 
proxies,  and  became  chairman  of  the  stockholders'  meeting.  The 
hostile  efforts  were,  in  fact,  made,  but  the  course  which  he  pursued 
was  in  the  main  successful,  and  led  to  a  proposition  from  the 
adverse  party  that  if  Mr.  Cox  would  himself  accept  the  presidency 
of  the  road  they  would  withdraw  all  opposition,  make  his  election 
unanimous  and  assist  him  in  saving  the  property  from  wreck. 
Under  these  circumstances,  he  accepted  the  election,  and  when  it 
became  necessary  for  the  company  to  go  through  a  foreclosure 
the  Court  appointed  him  the  receiver,  and  he  controlled  the  prop- 
erty until  the  reorganization  in  1876-77.  Mr.  Cox  took  the  com- 
plete general  management  of  the  road  personally  and  administered 
its  affairs  during  that  period.  At  the  close  of  Mr.  Cox's  term  in 
Congress,  on  March  4,  1879,  he  returned  again  to  Cincinnati  and 
resumed  legal  practice.  In  1881  the  Hon.  Rufus  King,  desiring  to 
retire  from  the  deanship  of  the  Cincinnati  Law  School,  Mr.  Cox 
was  invited  to  take  that  position,  which  he  accepted,  and  remained 
in  it  till  the  close  of  the  academic  year  of  1897.  This  position 
required,  of  course,  a  larger  amount  of  lecturing  than  any  other 
member  of  the  faculty  performed,  and  under  the  rule  adopted  by 
the  board  of  trustees  the  dean  did  not  engage  in  court  practice, 


Public  Services  of  Jacob  Dolson  Cox  29 

as  that  would  interfere  with  the  constant  administration  of  the 
school  necessary,  but  he  confined  himself,  besides  attending  the 
duties  of  the  school,  to  what  is  known  as  chamber  practice,  includ- 
ing action  as  referee  and  master  in  cases  referred  to  him  out  of  the 
courts.  During  a  portion  of  the  time  from  1881  to  1897  Mr.  Cox 
also  acted  as  president  of  the  University  of  Cincinnati. 

Mr.  Cox  devoted  himself  at  intervals  during  his  later  life  to 
microscopical  science.  His  papers  in  this  sphere  of  knowledge 
have  been  printed  in  microscopical  journals  and  have  gained  for 
him  wide  recognition.  He  was  elected  corresponding  member  of 
the  Belgian  Microscopical  Society  and  fellow  of  the  Royal  Micro- 
scopical Society.  For  more  than  twenty  years  Mr.  Cox  reviewed 
books  for  The  Nation,  chiefly  those  relating  to  the  military  and 
civil  history  of  our  civil-war  period. 

Dr.  Cox  had  conferred  upon  him  the  following  academic  de- 
grees:  A.B.  and  A.M.,  by  Oberlin  College,  in  the  years  185 1  and 
1854,  respectively;  and  LL.D.,  by  Denison  University  in  1867, 
the  University  of  North  Carolina  in  1869  and  Yale  University 
in  1879. 


30  Public  Services  of  Jacob  Dolson  Cox 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Senate  Journal  of  Ohio— i860.  1861,  1869. 

House  Journal  of  Ohio— 1860-1861. 

Laws  of  Ohio— 1860-1861,  1867-1868. 

Ohio  State  Journal— i860- 1861,  1865-1866. 

Official  Records  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion. 

Executive  Documents  of  Ohio — 1865-1866. 

Report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior — 1869-1870. 

Wallace— Reports  of  the  Decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 

States,  Vol.  9. 
Letter  of  J.  D.  Cox  to  Hon.  D.  C.  Humphreys,  Associate  Justice  of  the 

Supreme  Court  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 
United  States  Statutes-at-Large— Vols.  16-17. 
Congressional  Record— 45th  Congress. 

House  Reports— 45th  Congress,  Vol.   1. 

Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War. 

J.  D.  Cox— March  to  the  Sea;  Franklin  and  Nashville. 

J.  D.  Cox— Battle  of  Franklin. 

Sketches  of  War  History— Papers  read  before  the  Ohio  Commandery 
of  the  Loyal  Legion  of  the  United  States. 

Greely — American  Conflict. 

Whitelaw  Reid— Ohio  in  the  War. 

J.  G.  Blaine— Twenty  Years  in  Congress. 

Lalor— Cyclopaedia  of  Political  Science. 

Johnstons  American  Politics. 

Larned— History  for  Ready  Reference. 

King— History  of  Ohio  (in  Commonwealth  Series). 

E.  B.  Andrews— Last  Quarter  Century  in  the  United  States. 

J.  P.  Smith— History  of  the  Republican  Party  in  Ohio. 

Atlantic  Monthly— August.  1895. 

North  American  Review— Vols.  112,  143. 

International  Review— Vol.  6. 


Public  Services  of  Jacob  Dolson  Cox  31 


VITA. 

James  Rees  Ewing  was  born  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  June  25, 
1870.  Having  spent  one  year  in  the  Pataskala  High  School,  he 
entered  the  Preparatory  Department  of  the  Ohio  Wesleyan  Uni- 
versity, at  Delaware,  in  the  fall  of  1884,  and  was  graduated  in 
1890,  with  the  degree  of  A.B.  He  accepted  a  position  as  instructor 
of  Greek  and  Latin  in  Green  Spring  Academy,  at  Green  Spring, 
Ohio,  and  at  the  end  of  one  year  was  appointed  professor  of 
Greek  m  Ottawa  College  at  Ottawa,  Kansas.  At  the  end  of 
three  years  he  removed  to  Granville,  in  his  native  State  where 
he  was  instructor  in  Greek,  in  Denison  University,  for  one  year. 

In  October,  1895,  he  entered  the  Historical  Department  of  the 
Johns  Hopkins  University. 


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